Ep. 236: Ashish Gupta - The Role of CFO in Developing a Sustainable Earnings Model

In this episode, host Adam Larson sits down with Ashish Gupta,
CFO North America at Reckitt, to explore the CFO's role in
driving a sustainable earning model for businesses. Discover how
Ashish's diverse leadership experience across continents has
influenced his approach to sustainable growth and learn valuable
insights on strategy, transformation, and execution. Get ready to
expand your financial knowledge and gain actionable tips for
driving success in your organization.


Full Episode Transcript:
Adam:           
Welcome back to Count Me In. Today we are joined by Ashish Gupta,
CFO, North America, at Reckitt. Ashish has worked across various
continents, and his international experience has greatly
influenced his approach to developing a sustainable earnings
model.


 


Ashish shares valuable insights on the importance of sustainable
leadership. The link between strategy, transformation and
execution, and the need for clear communication and business
transformations. Join us as we delve into the CFO's role, in
driving sustainable growth and empowering teams.


 


 Ashish, we're so excited to have you on
the podcast, today. And you've had extensive leadership
experience, across various continents. And maybe you could share
with our audience, how has this international experience
influenced your approach to a sustainable earnings model?


 


Ashish:         
 Hi, Adam, I am actually privileged to be talking
to you, today. Yes, I've been lucky to have experience in various
continents. But I must say that it has also been one of the
challenges that I have faced. It has not been easy, but it's also
been quite enriching and rewarding. It has taught me that there
is no one-size-fits-all approach, either to leadership, or to
developing a sustainable earnings model, or managing teams. 


 


Well, my greatest learnings have been two, in this situation. The
first one, has been that leadership must be situational, and it
must be relevant to the place and the situation you are in. And
there could be different leadership styles that you could adopt.
For example, you could be empathetic, but at the same time be
decisive. You could be collaborative, but be very unambiguous.
You could come across as vulnerable, but still be authentic about
it. And that's what people appreciate, and that's what brings
your whole self to work, really.


 


The second one is you also need to know, and as I said, that
there's no one-size-fits all approach. You also need to know when
to make a switch from one style to another, depending on how your
team is reacting to it. For example, sometimes, we say that it's
best to give feedback to people, at that moment.


 


But that may not be the right approach every time. Because,
sometimes, we just want people to get over the emotions and have
a calmer head. Before you go back and say, "Hey, look, in this
instance, we could have done it a little bit differently." And,
maybe, the people are more receptive, at that point of time, when
that heat has settled down and they are more calm. 


 


So I would say that, it has taught me, also, because I've worked
in different countries, different cultures. But people are
people, so people are the same. They've got emotions, they like
to be heard, they like to be respected, and that is universal.
That does not change.


 


Adam:           
Yes, the human experience is universal, no matter where you go
and, I think, people forget that. Because they want to divide
each other because of this or that, and the human experience is
so universal, like you just said. And as you're going out through
your career, I'm sure you've hit different things like
transformation, strategy, execution. You've had to hit all these
different things in your different leadership roles. How has that
set of skills supported you, in driving success in the different
organizations you've been a part of?


 


Ashish:         
 Well, Adam, you've just hit on three magic words
in that. Which is strategy, transformation, and execution. And I
think most of the organizations struggle with the relationship
between these three to their teams. Because you cannot have a
transformation before you have got a clear strategy, about how do
you want to drive the business. And transformation is an outcome
of your strategy, and execution is implementing that strategy and
transformation. 


 


So, very often, teams, in the business, fail to see the link of
the transformation that is, sometimes, being led by global teams,
to the company's strategy. And, then, it becomes even more muddy
when it comes to execution. And I love this quote from Einstein,
I'm not a science buff, but I love what he said.


 


He said that, "If you can't explain to a six-year-old, then you
don't understand it." And I think it's very true. And it may
sound complex strategy, transformation, execution, but
organizations need to keep it very simple. Because if people
don't get it, then it doesn't reflect in teams not interested in
executing a project or program. And it may sound something
similar to Silent Resignation, that we talked about today, so
people are not just interested.


 


With my experience, I have had experience, and I'm lucky to have
experience on both sides. I've led global transformation programs
from the corporate side, and I've been at the receiving end, and
large markets of those transformation programs. I've always
wanted to understand the strategy behind a transformation. Why
are we implementing a project?


 


What's the corporate strategy in it?


 


What do we get out of it?


 


What do I get out of it? 


 


And that helps me put in the right execution force and resources
behind it.


 


Adam:           
So, you're speaking about leading transformation into the finance
function. One of the times, I was reading about in a recent
article you wrote, was the Group Transformation Finance Director
at Reckitt. How is that experience? What things did you learn
from that particular experience, that helped translate into what
you're currently working on?


 


Ashish:         
 Well, it has been immensely useful to my learning,
really, Adam. And, normally, if you see in any organization,
there are about two to three centers of gravity in an
organization. The first one really is the corporate headquarters;
that drives the vision, purpose, and strategy for the company.


 


The second one, in many instances, is the geography or business
unit headquarter, depending on how the organization is set up.
And the third one, which I believe is the most important one, are
the markets where the business actually gets delivered and,
sometimes, there's a confusion.


But it's so true, that the transformation office always works for
the markets to bring in that change and shift.


 


In my transformation roles, I was leading the selection and
implementation of certain cutting-edge projects and tools, in
various areas. Planning, forecasting, controllership and
compliance, productivity. And, then, I'm currently working in the
biggest market, which is U.S. So it has helped me to understand
that once you understand the strategy be...